The central plot of Retaliation continues on from the previous film, which surprised me. We get to see what Zartan's plan was for taking on the appearance and replacing the president. However, it's very much standalone and doesn't require your viewing of the previous film to enjoy this one. One thing that I didn't like too much was the ditching of nearly all of the Joes from the previous movie. Only Snake Eyes remains and he doesn't really count since you don't see him face anyway. The way that the previous movie's characters were handled in this one was poor, it felt like they just wanted to have a bunch of bigger name stars as new characters. On the Cobra's side, there were a few familiar faces (well, something like two) and it was enough to feel comfortable that this was supposed to be a sequel. More evident on the Joe's side, at least two of the characters didn't have any meaningful contribution, they were just... there, no memorable highlights, what a waste. The tone felt different too, whereas Rise of Cobra had a lot of gimmicky vehicles and weapons in many scenes, Retaliation has a lot more 'normal' guns and gunfire, it's also less cheesy. The Cobra's plot was good enough to keep you interested. In the beginning, it left you wondering what it was about and you wanted to find out more. The climax didn't deliver though, it would be building up for the big showdown at the end and it doesn't truly come. There are a few plot holes that are big enough to make you skeptical but doesn't ruin the enjoyment. Storm Shadow's appearance is a bit of a mystery considering the fate he had back in the first movie (then again, if you think about it, we never knew for sure if that was a permanent thing). I liked the movie and it's about on par with the first film.
